AbstractPrior research has shown that emotion malleability beliefs are positively related to subjective well‐being, but less is known about the longitudinal relationship between both variables. The present study used a two‐wave longitudinal design to examine the temporal directionality of the relationship in a sample of Chinese adults. Using cross‐lagged models, we found that emotion malleability beliefs predicted all three dimensions of subjective well‐being (i.e. positive affect, life satisfaction, and negative affect) 2 months later. However, we did not detect any reverse or reciprocal effect between emotion malleability beliefs and subjective well‐being. In addition, emotion malleability beliefs still predicted life satisfaction and positive affect after controlling for the effect of the cognitive or emotional component of subjective well‐being. Our study provided primary evidence for the temporal directionality of the association between emotion malleability beliefs and subjective well‐being. Implications and suggestions for future research were discussed.